harryfat1

As expected, you can spot a long line of people waiting from a block away. Just Google Adel’s Halal Food NYC and you will read comments on the insanely long lines. The line wasn’t as bad during our visit as it was just after a thunderstorm had passed through and it was a Wednesday night. Nevertheless, it was impressive to see a long line at 9:30 PM waiting for food when there were other food carts on every other block in Midtown. They must be doing something right or just bunch of dumb tourists following each other like lemmings… We waited about 45 minutes in line before getting our food as many people in line were ordering multiple boxes. Even with 2 trucks of workers, they still can’t keep up with demand 20240626_220229.mp4

After freshening up, it was time to go out and grab some “late” dinner. Well, late by local time zone at 9 PM EST but only 6 PM PST from our West Coast stomachs/bodies. Per the YouTube videos, Halal food trucks are the latest food craze in NYC. People line up for one plus hour for the food. So tourists being tourists, time to check it out the hype. But then it started raining and there was lightning and thunderstorms in the area. So we sat around a bit to wait for that to pass before venturing out as the Halal food truck has the unusual hour of opening at 6 PM and closing at 4 AM so there was no concern of the place closing shop. The food truck is a 0.6-mile walk from the hotel. Straight walk right past the famous Rockefeller Center which we would visit later. NYC after the rain

There’s no getting around it – NYC is expensive. Hotels in Midtown are crazy high with $350+/night being a norm in the peak summer season at many decent hotels. Obviously, if you want up space, those start at 4 and 5 figures. But I wanted to be closer to the center of town to get a better “feel” of NYC to hear the sirens and smell the unpleasant odors of the street gutters as part of being in NYC. You can stay further away and take the subway into Manhattan, but I think that decreases the immersive experience even though it’s cheaper. It’s a question of what’s important to you. The hotel has 18 floors and we were placed on the 17th floor, the highest possible floor without being in the Penthouse. We have a partial view of the Chrysler building but I didn’t book the room for the view, more for functionality.

The complimentary hotel breakfast area We made it to the hotel. Checked in. Got 3 bottles of complementary water. Not sure if they gave that to everyone or because I’m a Marriott member. Time to play the obligatory "Hotel NY" video:

The escalator takes you up to the newly built Madison Concourse as part of the main Grand Central Terminal that you have seen in many movies. But we will come back to visit on another day. Right now the priority is getting to the hotel and checking in ASAP as the forecast has rain/thunderstorm coming within the hour so we had to move it, move it. Our hotel was the Marriott Residence Inn at Manhattan East – 2 blocks away from the Grand Central Madison exit. At least that’s what Google Maps says. But once you get to the Grand Central station, the place is huge with signs everywhere and it’s not as easy to exit the place in reality. Too many arrows and signs. But we finally made it out and dragged our luggage 2 blocks to the hotel. Lots of construction in NYC even after 8 PM on a Wednesday night.

Being anal and cheap, let's add up the cost real quick. $27.50 Airtrain ticket for 4 people at 10 rides or $13.75 for a family of 4. Plus the $5/pp LIRR or $20 in total, that's $33.75 total to get from JFK to Manhattan. Compared to the $100+ Lyft was quoting me in my previous post, this is a steal. So the first tip for anyone looking to get to the midtown area is to look into Airtrain/LIRR if you can drag your luggage/walk. Substantial savings for a family or even as a couple compared to the taxi/Lyft. OK, getting off LIRR and you are at Grand Central Madison Station. As I said, a brand new station area was built last year. The area down underneath is huge so it took a while to get oriented on where’s what. You need to take the escalator up like 180 feet on one of the longest escalators you will ride. You pray the person’s suitcase in front of you doesn’t fall backward and create a domino effect of taking 20 other suitcases in the lower part and smacking into you. But since we were there at 8 PM, it wasn’t very crowded. Here's me taking a picture of my wife taking a picture of me/the boys

So our train arrived. Pick a seat. Any seat. Be sure you don’t try to cheat and get on the train without buying a ticket as there will be a conductor that comes around asking you for your ticket after the train has departed. If you don’t have a previously purchased ticket, it will cost you more to buy it from the conductor than at the kiosk. With only 1 stop, the LIRR drops you off at the Grand Central station in midtown Manhattan after a 20 minute ride. The area is clean/bright as it was built in early 2023 so still a very nice area. Very welcoming experience for first-time visitors compared to the dirty/smelly subway system we will experience later on in the trip. Let me insert a Google map here to show the area as not everyone is familiar with NYC geography. I had to learn it on my own for the past few months. So we are started from the lower right (JFK airport), took the red line Airtrain to transfer at Jamaica station and then the blue line is the LIRR that gets you to midtown Manhattan.

So just follow the signs above that says LIRR. Once you get to the LIRR platform, find a kiosk to buy the ticket ($5/pp during non-commute time). The ticket allows you to ride any train going into Manhattan that departs every 10 minutes or so. Just look on the board to find the track for the train you want to get to and take the escalator down. For most tourists, depending on where their hotel is located in Manhattan, you are either going to Penn Station or Grand Central. Our hotel is located near Grand Central so that’s where we are headed. Clear easy signage that tells you about the train (10 cars) and potential seat availability. The cars are pretty empty during non-commet time so you can pretty much enter any car.

OK, continuing on with day 1 pictures. We just bought the 10-ride Airtrain ticket for $27.50 ($26.50 + $1 for the card). Time to exit the station. One option we never used was that you can use your credit card/phone to tap the scanner to pay. We never opted for that as we did the physical metro card. Whatever payment option you choose, you exit the station following the signs – yes, you guessed it, big yellow color sign. After you get out, you have the options of 1) Long Island Railroad (commuter train) – LIRR 2) NYC Subway 3) Bus. We opted for the Long Island Railroad as per Youtube, it was clean and fast as you don't have to deal with street traffic like a taxi. It was a 20-minute ride from the Jamaica station for $5/pp since it was a non-commute time. The subway is cheaper at $2.90 but slower and not as comfortable when you have large suitcases Make a choice - left or right:

First of all, welcome to CC. I see this is your very first post in the forum. Thanks for reading along. After the first post, people will start being mean to you...Just kidding (not really). Oh, yeah, itinerary. My bad. I was too eager to dive deep into the NYC discussion yesterday that I forgot to provide an itinerary of what we did. Here’s what we did on a high level: Day 1 – Arrival/Halal Food Day 2 – Summit One/Rockefeller Center/Korea Town Day 3 – Lower Manhattan Walking tour/Wall Street/Oculus/and 9/11 Museum/One World Trade Center Day 4 – Walking tour taking across Brooklyn Bridge/Brooklyn area/Time Square Day 5 – Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island/(Originally planned to go to Flushing to see the largest Chinatown in the US for dinner but pouring rain forced a cancellation) Day 6 – Walking tour of SOHO/Little Italy/Chinatown/Grand Central/Time Square at night (part 2) Day 7 – Walking tour of Central Park/Empire State Building at night Day 8 – NY Public Library/Bryant Park/Oculus/Hudson Yards/Intrepid Museum/High Line/Little Island Day 9 – (Originally was it seeing the Metropolitan Museum but changed to Flushing Chinatown which was canceled on day 5 above)/UN Building/Apple Store/July 4 fireworks by Hudson River Day 10 – Heading home. Originally it was going to be a TWA hotel visit but we were running late that day and never made it there As with all the planned itineraries, we didn’t do everything we wanted from my original list but we went to all the top sights we wanted to see so it was good. It’s always easy to sit at home where it’s a perfect 74 degrees and full of energy and say “I want to see this and that and that and that…” whenever you watch a YouTube video on NYC that looks interesting. But then reality hits when you get there as it’s hot and humid and there are thousands of people everywhere forcing long wait in line. Then by 3 o’clock, you start looking for the nearest subway entrance to head back to the hotel to rest. Maybe our bodies are used to excursions on the cruise where you get off after breakfast and after a few hours away, you come back to the ship to rest in mid-afternoon…

Thanks to everyone for reading along with this supplemental trip report to NYC. Originally, I thought it might be just a small group of a few old friends reading along as a continuation of the December cruise report. However, from the various comments I’m seeing today, there are a few new names I don’t recognize. Welcome to those who are new to this thread. I could sound like a YouTuber by saying, "Like and Subscribe and click on the bell icon"...Yeah, spent way too much time on YouTube 🤪 Technically this was a separate trip as it’s 6 months afterward but since the Odyssey will be repositioned to NJ/NY area this Fall/Winter, maybe some folks might be interested in spending a little time in NYC as a pre/post cruise excursion. So perhaps this supplemental trip report will give y’all some ideas on what to see while in town or just a vehicle for the old friends to say hi from a few months ago. I’m a firm believer that tourists see a city differently than locals do. I’m from the SF Bay Area and any tourists to the SF Bay Area have seen places I have never seen as a local. I have never been to Alcatraz or Ghirardelli Square but millions of people visit those places annually. Maybe as tourists, we have the “must-see” list when visiting a city even though some of the places could be “tourist traps” just on name recognition but the locals would scoff at visiting. That’s OK. As long as we are happy with the trip/money spent, being a “dumb tourist” isn’t always a bad thing.

After getting off at Jamaica Station (the last stop before the train goes back to JFK), you just follow the crowd. If nothing else, keep looking for the yellow signs that have been directing you from the airport as they make it easy for you to find your way. OK. Now here comes the money-saving part – did I mention I’m cheap? – as you see in the picture above, the regular ride on the AirTrain is $8.50/pp. Given the distance it traveled (only a few miles), it’s not worth it. But if you are traveling with others/as a family, you can opt to buy a 10-ride Airtrain ticket for $26.50 (+ $1 for the metro card) for the ticket that up to a family of 4 can use at once. So let’s do some simple math here. If traveling as a couple and you plan to take mass transportation to/from JFK during your visit, if you pay the face value fare, it’s $8.50/pp X 2 people X 2 ways (back and forth) = $34. So getting the 10 ride card at $26.50 (+ $1) is already a money saving proposition. If used for family of 4, the savings are even more significant. Just note each 10-ride AirTrain card can only be used by 4 people at a time. After rider #4, the system locks you out for like 20 minutes so it's not going to work for a family of 5 on one card . You would need to buy a second card or pay face value for the 5th person. You can buy the AirTran card at the vending machine by the wall or you can buy it from the store across the way as recommended by YouTube. However, I was surprised that the guy selling me the card asked if I wanted to tip him 5% for selling me a card. WTH? 5% tip for the process of selling me a card. It’s like tipping a cashier at 7/11 for selling me a candy bar...I would tip at a restaurant or if someone helped me with the luggage at the port but to sell me a card and want a tip is a bit too much for me in this ever-increasing tipping culture.

First thing first. AirTran – after you find the AirTran entrance, just look for the train that goes to Jamaica Station. The unusual thing about AirTran is that you don’t pay before boarding, you pay AFTER you arrive at the station as you try to exit. This automated train reminds me of the Orlando airport train that connects you to different terminals. As you go past other terminals, you realize how big JFK is in size compared to many other airports out there. Lots of construction everywhere you see. The train itself is very spacious. They designed it with lots of open space for luggage so not as many seats but after sitting in the plane for so many hours, it’s good to stand for a while to stretch the legs.

JetBlue is headquartered in NY so they are the dominant player in taking over Terminal 5 at JFK airport. This ring looks like it’s something from the Sci-Fi movie – like the transport ring in Star Gate After getting our luggage, the first thing to do was stow away the jackets we were wearing flying out of SFO where even in June it was in the low 60s when we left the house. NYC was in the high 80s with humidity that we aren’t accustomed to so it was time to put away the sweatshirts ASAP. After watching more YouTube videos than I care to admit on how to get from JFK to downtown Manhattan, we opted to do the mass transit option. The cost of taxis or Uber/Lyft are both over $100. Here is the screenshot of how much our Lyft ride would have cost. Too rich for me (did I mention I’m cheap?): So the cheaper way to get into town is via public transportation. From the luggage claim, follow the bright yellow signs that says “Air Train”. That’s the automated subway train that goes between terminals and to the connection station – Jamaica – that you connect to other transportation options.

Day 1 – June 26 (Flying to NYC) I got a JetBlue credit card before the flight to the Odyssey cruise in FLL last December. The welcome bonus of 75,000 miles on the card plus the 6X point on the flight in December gained me over 90K miles to be used to fly the family to NYC one way. As with my typical trip reports, I will start/end at SFO airport. Being old, never really felt comfortable using these flight kiosks versus the old-school checking-in with an actual airline ground crew work but this is the norm now. We got TSA pre-check for the whole family on this trip and it was a breeze to get through TSA in not having to take off shoes and do the prison pose inside the scanning machine. Water dispenser stations post TSA security check so you can fill up your water bottle. Very high tech looking. I like the seats at the SFO gates. Instead of just the boring black seats, they have more comfortable chairs/tables for people to sit and relax while waiting for the plane. Also SFO has really fast free wifi - over 200 Mbps. However we couldn't find any free Wifi at JFK coming back. On paper, JetBlue is a great airline with a TV screen in front of every seat and they give you unlimited drinks (open cupboards) you help yourself to whatever drinks in the middle of the flight. In reality, I have the worst luck on the TV monitor on the Jetblue flights. Back in December, my screen was defective while everyone else’s screen worked. On this flight, none of the TV monitors worked as they couldn’t get the software to work. Thank goodness I brought my own tablet and the free wi-fi on the plane worked so I was able to connect to the Internet. With access to the Internet, even the long cross-country flight was decent as the 5.5-hour flight didn’t seem very long. Lunchtime – Costco Chicken Bake. A better option than the overpriced Airport food. Did I mention I’m cheap?

A bit of background. My wife and I have been to NYC for 1 day years ago but the boys have never been there so many of the sights are new to us.

I am not sure if anyone is still reading this trip report but as promised, I am posting pictures of our just-completed NYC vacation. Similar to the regular trip report format, I will initially upload a few sample pictures from the trip and then go in chronological order with some useless comments that nobody cares to read...🤪 We were in NYC for 9+ days and I will tell the story from a tourist's perspective as tourists view a city differently than locals do. With the Odyssey sailing out of NJ this winter, maybe these pictures/our experience could be helpful for those looking for a NYC pre/post stay.

Thanks for the compliments although taking credit for the pictures is like the rooster taking credit for sunrise through his crowing. Nothing special was done to my photos. Just a classic case of "Dummy See, Dummy takes out phone and Dummy pushes the big white round button on the Phone..." Voila - we now have thousands of photos and then add in a few nonsensical YouTube videos, and you have a making of another trip report on CC...🤪 Nothing in the class of professional photographers like these folks or @bobmacliberty

Here is my last set of NYC vacation photos to upload now that we are back home. Done with all the post vacation tasks like laundry and grocery shopping to restock the refrigerator after a long vacation. Trying to fight the post vacation blues syndrome by watching the YouTube videos for the upcoming December cruise as well as advanced planning for European vacation next summer. We are the uber aggressive vacationers in packing in as much things as possible on vacation and o think land based vacation fits our current speed more than an European cruise. @h20skibum would appreciate the advance planning necessary to see Disney parks as one item on my bucket list is to visit all the Disney parks worldwide in the order they are build. So we visited all the US Disney parks. Went to the 2 Disney parks in Tokyo in 2019. Next up in Euro Disney in Paris. Extra challenge in trying to navigate Paris area as the Disney park is pretty far away from the city center. Anyway, that's later. Here are pictures from the Granddaddy of all NYC tourist traps - Empire State Building

You are welcome. Glad the info us useful. My phone tracks what I have been researching lately and since it's all been about NYC, this news article popped up so I figure I share the info. Coming in from NJ, I would assume you will take the PATH to get out at the Oculus to walk over to the museum. The area is very nice as you can eat luch/dinner overlooking the Hudson.

For the New Yorkers who want to visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum, they have some free days for the locals to see the place. https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/11-museum-for-free-on-select-days-070524

It's weird quoting myself but just wanted to add one more comment about Jetblue or traveling credit card in general. I git a Jetblue credit card last Fall when I knew I would be flying with them for the December in Florida. They had a 75k points welcome promotion in getting the credit card. So I booked my flights and other travel stuff on that card (6X points for evert Jetblue airfare purchase). That got me 90k points in total which I cashed in to fly the family of 4 to NYC one way (22k points one way/pp for our flights or 88k total). On top of that, by having the credit card, you get free check in luggage for yourself and 3 traveling companions. So at $99 annual fee, it's a great deal in getting free check in luggage and points for future flights. Now that we are done with the trip, time to plan for the trip after the next trip. Meaning our final payment for the December cruise is due in September. If I get another new credit card on a different airline or Chase points, those points will be used to fly us to Europe next summer. So it's kinda like leap frog system where you plan for the next next cruise as all these cards have minimum purchases (say $4k in first 3 months). So if I get the new card by end of August, pay for the cruise in September (sadly will be way over $4k for 4 of us), that will get me like another 75k+ points to fly on some European airline to help with the cost to fly to Europe next summer. Did I mentioned that I'm cheap?

I like Jetblue. They claim to have the most amount of leg room of any coach seats amongst US carriers. There's a web site called seatguru that you can check the seats of your flight as to the leg space and seat location as being good or bad. Jetblue has TV screens on the flight if you care to watch that versus your own electronic devices but bring your own wired earbuds as it's not Bluetooth. As I reported yesterday, you have free wifi for most of the flight (some dead zones) so you can keep yourself busy during the flight. I typically dread these cross country flights associated with cruising out of Florida, but yesterday's 6 plus hour flight went by really fast with free wifi.

Sorry to hear you couldn't make your cruise this year but it's just a postponement until next year. Just look at it as giving you more time to prepare for NYC. If you are interested in seeing NYC from a tourist's perspective, I will be doing a chronological overview of my trip in the continuation of the Odyssey trip report from last year. You are welcome to read that once I am done with laundry and grocery shopping (the necessities of post vacation tasks) and upload my pictures to my hard drive. I was on the Navigator last year so you can also check out that trip report as well if you sailing on her later this year.

Almost there... Ate the take out Japanese bento boxes and freshly made Japanese rice balls for dinner on the plane sitting in the tiny airplane seat area. We bought them this morning from the grocery store in Manhattan. The glamours of vacation travel that never shows up on YouTube...